Science Studies Network 2008-2009

A list of major initiatives outlined in the SSNet proposal follows. For more detailed information, please consult the proposal itself, or our 2008-2009 executive summary:

Science Studies Network Proposal 2008-09 (pdf)
Executive Summary 2007-08 (pdf)

 

Graduate-Faculty Colloquium on “Democratizing Science”

This year’s Science Studies colloquium series takes the form of a year-long faculty and graduate student seminar organized in three thematic components: Science in Democracy (Fall 2008); Democracy and Diversity in Science (Winter 2009); and Normative Claims for a Democratic Science (Spring 2009).The core organizing group of Spring Seminar Fellows is as follows: 

Graduate Fellows: Julie Homchick (Communication), Sara Breslow (Anthropology)

Faculty Fellows: Malia Fullerton (Bioethics and Humanities), Mott Greene (Earth and Space Sciences), Phillip Thurtle (CHID & History), Alison Wylie (Philosophy & Anthropology)

Graduate Micro-seminars (HUM596)

A 2-credit interdisciplinary graduate seminar will be offered each quarter in conjunction with the SSNet Colloquia. These HUM 596 seminars are C/NC, and are open to graduate students from across the university.

Visiting Speakers

The SSNet hosted several exciting visitors this year. We hosted one visitor per quarter. Check the list of podcasts to hear our visitors' presentations.


Spring Speaker - Kavita Philip
(Women's Studies, UC-Irvine)
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

Kavita Philip is author of Civilizing Natures (2003 and 2004), and co-editor of the volumes Constructing Human Rights in the Age of Globalization (with Monshipouri, Englehart, and Nathan, 2003), Multiple Contentions (with Skotnes, 2003), Homeland Securities (with Reilly and Serlin, 2005), and Tactical Biopolitics (with da Costa, 2008). Her research interests are in transnational histories of science and technology; feminist technocultures; gender, race, globalization and postcolonialism; environmental history; and new media theory. Her work in progress includes a monograph entitled Proper Knowledge, and a co-authored book with Terry Harpold entitled Going Native: Cyberculture and Postcolonialism. Kavita Philip's research interests are in technology in the developing world; transnational histories of science and technology; gender, race, globalization and postcolonialism; environmental history; and new media theory. She gave a public lecture on the topic of "Technological Subjects."


Winter Speaker -
Kelly Moore (Sociology, University of Cincinnati)
February 9th & 10th, 2009

A sociologist whose primary interest is understanding “how governments and social movements shape knowledge production and distribution,” Moore has recently published Disrupting Science: Social Movements, American Scientists, and the Politics of the Military, 1945-1975 (Princeton 2008). She gave a public lecture on this new book on Feb. 10th, and discussed her new work on “the politics of nutrition” with the SSNet seminar on Feb. 9th.


Fall Speaker - Eugene Thacker (Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology)
November 24th, 2008

Eugene Thacker's publications include The Global Genome: Biotechnology, Politics, and Culture (2005) and Biomedia (2004). He also edited Hard_Code: Narrating the Network Society. Thacker most recently co-authored The Exploit (2007, with Alexander Galloway) on the implications of the ontology of networks for political theory and is currently writing a book on the poetics of biopolitics. He gave a public lecture entitled "After Life," which addressed "a rethinking of the concept of life that is neither reducible to biology
nor sublimated within theology."

Curriculum Development in Science and Technology Studies

A primary goal of SSNet is to coordinate and build upon the rich array of courses and programs in science and technology studies (STS) currently offered at UW. A planning meeting for curriculum projects was convened on January 12th, 2009. Contact the organizers for information about this meeting.

We are actively searching for information about STS-relevant coursework offered at UW. If you have information about relevant courses, please post it to our SSNet Courses Wiki.

SSNet curriculum initiatives include a commitment to develop:

See Curriculum Project for more details.

Northwest Summer Institute for Science Studies

SSNet had planned to convene an inaugural Summer Institute in July 2009, but this has been deferred for the time being (finances being what they are). We will revisit these plans in the next year; we envision this Institute as a way of building connections among Science and Technology Studies scholars based at universities and colleges throughout the Northwest, laying the foundations for a regional STS consortium.

Organizers:

Advisory Group:

See a list of UW STS courses on our SSNet Courses Wiki.

View Online Readings for colloquium and HUM 596 meetings.

Listen to podcasts from past SSNet events.

Calendar At-A-Glance: